Several fires are burning throughout California, including one that is the largest fire in the Golden State's history. Dry conditions and an increase in dead trees are fueling the fires, which have left more than 800,000 acres of scorched Earth in their path and several people, including firefighters, dead.

Last September, smoke from other deadly and destructive California wildfires floated across the U.S. via the jet stream.

The smoke from the current fires is roughly a mile above the Earth on the East Coast, so the risks are minimal. But the potential exists for it to be pulled down by the jet stream and settle closer to the ground — which is exactly what happened in Dubuque, Iowa, last year, according to NASA.

Smoke from the California wildfires has drifted so far from its source that it is now high above parts of the East Coast of the United States. The National Weather Service posted a map on its San Diego office's Twitter account Friday, explaining that the smoke has traveled...